Houston’s Drag Kings Are Suiting Up for Their Second within the Highlight

In comparison with drag queens wrapped in customized spandex bodysuits, tufted wigs, and sky-high heels, Jack Hammer-Dandy’s banana-yellow three-piece swimsuit appears to be like pedestrian. When he comes on stage — sporting square-rimmed black glasses, his chiseled look enhanced by a beard drawn on with make-up — his look appears virtually misplaced, extra mafioso than RuPaul’s Drag Race. However when Hammer-Dandy begins dancing, serving smoldering appears to be like to a cheering crowd and crawling like a cat throughout the stage, it’s clear he doesn’t want extra hair quantity or clothes to attract in an viewers. Drag kings like him not often do.

Later within the present, Barry Mii Dandy, one other member of the Dandy drag household, enters stage left, serving a cartoonish facet of the drag king aesthetic. Donning a pastel clown costume together with his face painted white and a lavender drawn-on mustache, Barry walks off stage, sashay-ing by way of the group to Janelle Monae’s “Tightrope.” Onlookers, seemingly mesmerized, hand him fistfuls of faux greenback payments that might later be exchanged for donations at Mint Julep’s annual HIV/AIDS profit for Legacy Neighborhood Well being.

With a number of hundred patrons within the viewers, it was the biggest viewers the Dandy Drag Kings would have all 12 months. According to their appearances at many different occasions, they carried out without cost.

Eater Houston’s interviews with almost a dozen native drag kings reveal that drag king performers in Houston regularly go unpaid for performances, with some native bars and eating places unwilling to compensate them. Different bars decline to host drag king performances altogether, as an alternative solely internet hosting drag queens, Mii says, contributing to a scarcity of illustration and recognition that drag kings have been preventing for over a decade to earn. Some kings within the scene correlate this lack of knowledge with the dearth of mainstream illustration of drag king artistry. And not using a televised stage or family recognition, members of Houston’s native drag king neighborhood are preventing for recognition in a metropolis they are saying largely doesn’t see them.

“We’re nonetheless preventing for our share of the stage,” says Sir Debonair, an award-winning drag king from Houston, referring to pull kings’ lack of alternatives within the Houston drag house. “Not being acknowledged for the exhausting work we’ve completed is simply as tousled as not paying us.”

Although most of Houston’s drag kings Eater interviewed have been lively for lower than a decade, this efficiency type isn’t new. Like drag queens, drag kings — historically outlined as folks assigned feminine at delivery who carry out as masculine identities — have carried out within the U.S. since at the very least the 1800s. Then, feminine vaudeville performers within the U.S. and England held exhibits in drag to entertain a predominantly male viewers, the place they took on an exaggerated, upper-class persona by way of music and dance. Whereas drag kings carried out brazenly within the later half of the nineteenth century, within the twentieth century, drag exhibits turned extra closely related to the LGBTQ neighborhood. In homosexual meccas like New York, San Francisco, and London, drag exhibits have been held in relative secrecy at homosexual bars as a consequence of anti-cross-dressing legal guidelines, a lot of which weren’t overturned till the Sixties.

In Houston, drag kings have carried out publicly since at the very least the 2000s. A number of the first documented cases included the Entrance Alley Women’ Backstreet Boys-themed drag king act on the Houston Delight Parade in June 2001 and the drag exhibits hosted at Probabilities Bar, a now-defunct lesbian bar, within the early 2000s.

Houston Gendermyn, a self-deemed “gender-variant” troupe shaped round 2007 with assist from fellow drag troupe Kings and Issues in Austin, carried out regularly within the metropolis within the 2010s. The group labored to coach residents on the assorted genders of its members and to deconstruct the binary, in response to an interview Robin Mack, one in every of its performing members, had with Houston LGBTQ archivist J.D. Doyle. “Drag kings are individuals who don’t have any drawback wavering from femininity to masculinity, and so they sort of invite that magic of that course of into their life,” Mack instructed Doyle.

Across the similar time, Pearl Bar in Montrose — now the one lesbian bar in Houston and one in every of two in Texas — turned the de facto headquarters for the Houston drag king scene and the launching pad for Ian Syder-Blake’s drag king troupe, Kings of Houston. Syder-Blake launched the Kings of Houston present out of Pearl Bar — he had approached each queer house or venue within the larger Houston space, from Kingwood to Galveston, however Pearl Bar was the one venue that might comply with host a drag king present. It additionally pays its performers: Proprietor Julie Mabry says drag kings make $400 per present or about $45 to $50 per hour. The host of Pearl Bar’s common Drag Royale present makes $35 per hour for 2 to 3 exhibits per week.

Syder-Blake and different kings contend that few bars aside from Pearl have been keen to present performers assigned feminine at delivery an opportunity on stage. Drag king performances have by no means been as widespread as drag queen exhibits, which some kings say is a part of the continuing wrestle for feminine entertainers to be acknowledged on the identical degree as male entertainers. Regardless of that, the efficiency type is actually the identical: As a substitute of eradicating facial hair and including breast kinds, Syder-Blake says, drag kings could bind their chests and put on footwear with lifts. Both means, drag king and drag queen artistry entails exaggerated gender efficiency.

Mabry and Pearl Bar employees have been distinctive in that they have been receptive to pull king performers no matter their gender identification. The publicity turned the Kings of Houston troupe’s gateway to acting at different homosexual bars round Houston, together with Barcode and Michael’s Outpost, he says.

Although Syder-Blake says he had not heard of drag king exhibits earlier than 2013, he felt moved when he first noticed his good friend and ex-wife host a efficiency that 12 months. Fascinated, he determined to carry out himself at a country-themed drag present. “I obtained in there in a flannel shirt and denims — dangerous Walmart drag — and a badly lined goatee, and I carried out for the primary time,” he says. “I used to be tremendous awkward on stage, however I had enjoyable.”

Right this moment, a lot of Houston’s kings hint their drag heritage, so to talk, to Syder-Blake. The 40-year-old native Houstonian and self-proclaimed “drag dad” is now one of many longest-running drag kings within the metropolis. He’s lengthy served as a mentor to kings and members of the LGBTQ neighborhood and has supplied quite a few drag exhibits and trainings, in addition to an in a single day adults’ Queer Camp by way of his firm, Houston Queer Occasions & Leisure.

In the summertime of 2024, Juecee, a Pearl Bar safety guard and drag king, took over for Kings of Houston and started internet hosting a brand new drag present at Pearl. To bridge the hole, his present introduced again older drag king performers to supply comforting, acquainted faces for the viewers. “The vitality was simply principally a giant celebration,” Juecee says of the primary present he hosted in August. “We’re all again. … It was only a massive reunion.”

Although many performers see the drag king scene as an expressive outlet, others say they’ve encountered challenges concerning their identification and the way they current themselves on stage. Earlier than falling in love with the scene, Zestiel Celestial, a 26-year-old transfeminine and nonbinary Houstonian, tried out for a drag present at Pearl Bar on a whim. (Transfeminine is a label that refers to somebody assigned male at delivery however whose identification leans female.) At first, since he leaned female, Celestial says there was strain to carry out as a drag queen, however it wasn’t a match. The extra he carried out, the extra he realized there have been elements of masculinity he nonetheless loved. Ultimately, he determined to carry out primarily as a drag king. “I really feel like by way of my drag, I get to precise the boy I by no means obtained to be,” Celestial says.

Baytown’s Mii, the 28-year-old pastel clown who carried out on the Mint Julep present, is without doubt one of the hottest drag kings working in Houston right this moment, however his efficiency kinds and costumes additionally stray from the standard. Mii’s distinct presentation alternates between cutesy pastels to suave, masculine appears to be like — a defiant shift from the standard pencil-mustache-and-suit ensembles and hyper-masculine displays that usually characterize drag king performances across the nation. Whereas his typical type outdoors of drag is extra femme or female, Mii dared himself to make his stage act, Barry, extra female, too. He describes it as a leap of religion that additionally challenged viewers members, who can already be skeptical of — or much less accustomed to — drag king performances.

“I began like, ‘It’s important to be tremendous, tremendous masculine. It needs to be like this. It’s important to carry out this manner. The strikes need to be like this,” Mii says. “The extra I did drag, the extra [I was] forcing myself to be tremendous masculine in a means that got here off as a straight, masculine man. It sort of wore me out as a result of folks weren’t responding to it.”

Many native drag kings inform Eater they’re not as revered, compensated, or sought out for his or her work in comparison with drag queens, who’ve extra publicity by way of widespread tv exhibits and main occasions. Solely a handful of big-name king performers and even fewer competitions exist nationwide, and lots of drag kings say it’s not unusual for viewers members to inform them they by no means knew such performances existed.

On the Mint Julep present, the totally different consideration given to pull kings and queens was obvious of their inexperienced rooms: Whereas drag queen performers had an expansive house stuffed with professional-looking make-up counters and massive wigs on styrofoam heads, the drag kings shared a small room, their luggage unfold over the ground. (Legacy Neighborhood Well being, which runs Mint Julep, didn’t reply to a request for remark.)

Hamburger Mary’s, a drag-themed restaurant whose Houston location closed earlier this 12 months, was as soon as thought of a haven for native drag. Its Mary’s Children contest, which promised new drag artists publicity and mentorship from veteran performers, was thought of a stepping stone for a lot of drag artists. Nevertheless, as soon as Mii was topped as the primary king to win the competition, he felt he was not given the identical consideration as Mary’s drag queens — at the same time as he promoted and carried out in Mary’s drag exhibits without cost, he says. His exhibits on the restaurant have been typically canceled, and the promised mentorship felt missing.

A spokesperson for Hamburger Mary’s mentioned in an emailed assertion that the dad or mum firm reduce ties with the individuals who operated Houston’s Hamburger Mary’s earlier this 12 months and has not had contact with them since. The restaurant has been closed for over a 12 months, regardless of operators utilizing its title to advertise their very own occasions since its closing.

Mii had taken the Mary’s Children alternative as an indication that he may make it as a drag king. Although the expertise was disagreeable and demoralizing, he nonetheless considers it a studying expertise. “I’m the sort of individual, like, it doesn’t matter what the conditions are, I wish to be taught one thing from them,” Mii says. “I discovered to have thicker pores and skin, to have the ability to exit and carry out at my 100 even when folks don’t perceive or don’t wish to have a look at me.”

Regardless of all this, Mii says Houston’s drag scene has been slowly rising, and that progress has rebuilt his confidence after Hamburger Mary’s.

“[Drag] taught me a whole lot of self-confidence — [to] be your self. You will be loud. You possibly can take up house. It’s not that you want to match, look, or speak a sure means. Be your self, and that may get you wherever you want to go,” Mii says.

In 2024, drag kings don’t have to carry out in secrecy like they did within the early- to mid-1900s. Nevertheless, as drag more and more turns into the middle of the nationwide tradition battle, native performers have been caught within the crossfire. Senate Invoice 12, a failed state invoice that might have made “sexually oriented performances” held within the presence of anybody youthful than 18 a civil or felony offense, rattled the native queer bar scene. Final 12 months, just a few months after the invoice was introduced, Mabry was denied insurance coverage for Pearl Bar as a result of it held drag performances.

Syder-Blake says that, after the invoice was introduced, fewer folks started coming to his exhibits, and several other instances, folks got here to heckle or snicker on the performers. “SB 12 primarily emboldened folks, pondering that they had some type of safety, that they might come out and be hateful in direction of others,” he says.

Although SB 12 failed, one other comparable invoice, Home Invoice 1075, was filed in November for the upcoming 2025 Texas legislative session, solely weeks after President-elect Donald Trump gained his reelection bid. Trump’s win may decelerate — or reverse — any progress drag performers have made in Texas. Trump and the Republican Get together spent tens of tens of millions of {dollars} on transphobic adverts throughout his race, which made false or deceptive claims that demonized the transgender neighborhood, in addition to drag performers.

“I don’t imagine drag has modified in Houston but, however that doesn’t imply that the long run for drag will not be in jeopardy proper now,” Celestial instructed me in a direct message. “Texas is making an attempt to cross 32 anti-trans and a few LGBTQ ban legal guidelines proper now. The primary focus for me is HB 1075 as a result of this might [fine] a drag performer in the event that they have been to carry out in entrance of a minor … Drag will not be against the law.” He says he’s contacting totally different organizations to see what will be accomplished on the community-organizing degree to oppose the invoice.

Nonetheless, the kings have pressed on. Regardless of not having the platform of a mainstream tv present like RuPaul’s Drag Race to showcase drag king tradition, a constant stage, or a large understanding of their work, Houston’s drag kings have nonetheless made town’s drag tradition richer — and made drag kings a part of the broader dialog involving drag performers in Texas. Statewide-recognized drag king Sir Debonair strives to propel Houston’s scene to be as well-known because the drag king communities in Los Angeles and New York Metropolis. His latest undertaking, Topped Illusions, a drag summit launched in October, guarantees to supply headshots, panels about anti-drag laws and psychological well being, lessons on the artwork of drag, and extra to assist have interaction the neighborhood.

Progress has been revamped the previous decade. A number of drag kings report receiving extra invites to compete in an growing variety of exhibits alongside drag queens, and so they’ve obtained extra accolades, together with awards and titles beforehand held solely by drag queens, like Mii’s standing at Hamburger Mary’s.

“We’re going to proceed to develop. We’re going to proceed to make it,” Celestial says. “I do know that we’re going to proceed to thrive. If it took us six years to get thus far, I’m fairly certain that in one other six years, we’re going to personal this shit.”